If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Searching

Been a long time since I was on the site and looking for advice on what brand of lathe to buy.
Well after many hours/days/weeks/months of researching, I've decided on a South Bend 9" or 10" (either light or heavy).
Now a new problem:
Where to find one ???????
I have been watching ebay and searching anywhere else I could find with little success. Found a couple on ebay, but were listed as pick-up only and were too far away to consider.
Does anyone have other sites to watch/search that they could recommend or know of a referb company that sells them ???
I live in west central Illinois and would prefer someplace close in order to go and see the machine before buying of course if possible.

Another option is start nosing around for auctions of school shop equipment or State of Illinios auctions. But beware SBs seem to be demanding a premium price due to popularity. Also anything at a low price is likely to be worn out. The perverbial little old lady selling the late husbands like new machines for 100 bucks is a fiction created in over active imaginations IMO

The optimist says the glass is half full, the pessimist says it's half empty. The paranoid in me says somebody put a hole in it.

Remember pessimists are at heart opptomists. They know things can and will get worse.

There's Plaza Machinery in Bethel, VT (advertises in HSM) who would certainly ship to you. See www.plazamachinery.com

If I were in the market for a used lathe, I think I'd go for a SB "heavy 10" or a Clausing.

Last edited by SGW; 12-28-2006 at 05:02 PM.

----------
Try to make a living, not a killing. -- Utah Phillips
Don't believe everything you know. -- Bumper sticker
Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects. -- Will Rogers
There are lots of people who mistake their imagination for their memory. - Josh Billings
Law of Logical Argument - Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.

Searching

Rooter,

While I was looking for my equipment, I looked through the EBAY stores and discovered that one was in my inlaw's home town. I went by and paid the guy a visit. To my surprise and delight, he had several mills and lathes of various sizes in the shop and I was able to get the machines and basic tooling well within my price range. He also had an arrangement for shipping all of it to my place in Arkansas for $500. I still stop by his place when I am visiting Clearwater and see what deals he has on tooling.

Being in Illinois, you should not have any problem finding used machinery dealers with just what you want. Lathes, like tractors, tend to be more expensive the smaller they are. If you have room you may find a tool room lathe that you can get for less money and maybe more tooling with it.

Might try a want ad. WANTED: South Bend Lathe, working or non working. (A lot of them are non working because the original motors were three phase. If that is the case you might just get a deal. Just change the motor to a single phase or get or make a converter. A friend of mine Just bought a WWII vintage 10L last winter for $300.00 so it is still possible to find a deal if you are luckey. He bought it from a working machine shop. I bought my 9N Model A for $50. in 1979 from an electrican who had bought it from a school and did not realize it was three phase until he got it home. It sat unused for 10 years. gary P. Hansen

You could try Lost Creek Machine in Ottawa, Il. They have a web page and show pictures of what they have in stock. I don't know how there prices compare. I just have seen them at Steam and Car shows never been there.
Chip

Rooter,
South Bend sells remanufactured heavy 10 lathes. They are a little pricey but at least you know what your getting. They also have the updated cam lock spindle. Any reason why you have limited your choices to South Bend.

After conversing on this board and researching, I'm not real comfortable buying one of the new imports. I learned on a South Bend although that was years ago, but feel I would at least be familiar.
Lastly, I found an article written by someone who wrote that he apprenticed at the National Bureau of Standards to the trade of Scientific Instrument Maker. and he spoke very highly of the South Bend 9" & 10" lathes talking about their ability to be very accurate, cut a fine finish, and very versatile for threading.
So I figure I can't go wrong with a South Bend as long as I don't mess up and buy one that has been overly used and abused.